Irina Mbanze is a cardiologist at Maputo Central Hospital, in Maputo, Mozambique.

During her training, she realized that it would be a challenge to be a cardiologist, as a woman living in a developing country with few resources to diagnose and treat patients with cardiovascular diseases. But her passion and focus on her purpose allowed her to reach her desired degree in March of 2019. Since then, she has been actively involved in campaigns to raise awareness of preventable cardiovascular diseases, and she has participated in the Pan African Registry of Pulmonary Hypertension and an observational study of sleep disorders breathing in patients with acute heart failure.

Dr. Mbanze received an International Training Scholarship Award from the American Thoracic Society in 2015. This year she was one of 22 young Cardiologists selected to participate in the first African Course of heart failure, organized by PASCAR. She was also one of 5 cardiologists selected to present projects at the 15th PASCAR Congress in association with the Kenya Cardiac Society.

Dr. Mbanze’s research focuses on better understanding of the cardiovascular diseases which are prevalent in Mozambique. She is a mother of two who tries to do her best to balance work and family.